Cows dying before Eid in Chittagong

In the last three days several cows have died in Chittagong's Eid cattle markets.

Government officials said the animals were dying because of travel fatigue and overfeeding.

District Additional Livestock Officer Farhad Hossain said four cows died at Sagarika cattle market on Saturday. Several cows also died on Friday and Saturday.

Chittagong City Corporation, the authority that leases out these markets, says 30 animals have died so far.

Sagarika and Bibirhat cattle markets are the largest Eid cattle markets in Chittagong.

City Corporation's Chief Waste Management Officer Shafiqul Mannan Siddique said most of the cows died at Sagaraika cattle market.

"In the last three days, including Saturday, we have recovered 30 dead cows from Sagarika, Bibirhat, Pahartali and Chawkbazar areas. We have buried the carcasses," he said.

The cows ranged from medium to large, he added.

Farhad Hossain said sellers tend to overfeed the cattle to make them look fat.

"The four cows died at Sagarika today because of food poisoning," he said.

But he said altogether 10 to 12 cows had died.

"The cows died due to travel fatigue and overfeeding. We did not find any evidence of animals dying because of steroids or chemical poisoning," Hossain said.

"But if the owners gave the cows steroids they did that at least 20 days before bringing them to markets. It's difficult to test for those at this point," he admitted.

But business boomed at the cattle markets on Saturday. Buyers and sellers appeared to be happy about the prices.